Texans brass are trying to figure out how to right the ship…No Bye-Week Chat

There will be no bye week chat this week due to a prior commitment. Please join us again next Wednesday at 11 and discuss the upcoming game against Indianapolis! Thanks ~ Crimedog

The Texans season has hit a proverbial iceberg and is quickly taking on water. After starting 2-0, both in impressive come from behind efforts, we’ve watched as the Texans have quickly rattled off 5 straight losses.

The rats are bailing in droves.

Not going down with the ship.

Head Coach Gary Kubiak has named third string quarterback Case Keenum as the starter, despite Matt Schaub being declared healthy enough to start this Sunday against division rival Indianapolis.

This is likely a decision based on several factors; 1. With the O-Line issues, Kubiak decided to go with the more mobile quarterback. 2. Matt Schaub isn’t as healthy as they’re lettting on. 3. Case Keenum’s debut 10 days ago was too impressive to discount, or 4. Gary is tired of spotting the opponent 6 points every game.

I’d say the real answer lies somewhere between 1 and 3, perhaps with the urging of the boss. Owner Bob McNair seems to really like Keenum, so that could’ve been a factor as well. If the kid continues to play like he did against an undefeated Chiefs team, Uncle Bob might just be onto something.

Forget about the “fan” vote.

One thing that was most probably not a factor in the decision to start Keenum, was the fan vote. Fans have been screaming for Keenum (and some for Yates) to start for weeks. They were inadvertently rewarded that request with the injury to Matt Schaub. But now that Schaub is reportedly healthy, there was much ado about whether Kubes would stick with his maligned QB or go with the younger, undrafted prodigy.

The team has proven in the past that the “fan vote” doesn’t weigh in their decisions. That’s not to imply any disrespect to the knowledgeable fan base, it’s just not their way. They are of the opinion that they are the football gurus and that they know what’s best for the team. At times many of us fans have wondered if they’re watching the same games and same film we’re seeing, because some of their decisions have been baffling.

I think they chose Keenum because he’s the best option at this point. He’s young, mobile, accurate and confident, none of which could be used to describe Matt Schaub. Matty has served this team well in the past. Yes, he has his flaws, but he is a good quarterback in a system that has played to his strengths for a long time. So good in fact, that he’s been to the Pro Bowl twice because of his impressive numbers. But in the ever evolving world of football, the quarterback, and perhaps the system, have a tendency to become predictable. So much so that opposing defenses have targeted particular plays with impressive success.

The only constant in the world is change.

Sometimes we need change to keep moving forward. This is especially true in the case of the Texans. As stated previously, teams are teeing off on our offense and coming up big. Five times in seven games, the opposing team has taken an interception in for a score. That would indicate, to this fan’s eye, that they’ve figured us out.

Now I’m no expert, but if I can predict the plays, surely the experts on the other side can too. We’ve seen the Texans struggle in the red zone (again) and seen our team lose 5 games in a row, many of which should have been winnable.

The Texans currently sit at 2-5 as we enter the middle part of the season. We’ve only played one division game thus far, so we have 5 left in the final 9 games, starting this Sunday. If we hope to salvage anything of this season, we have to start winning, and we have to start winning this weekend.

The choice to go with Keenum over a healthy Matt Schaub, tells me that the team, from the owner down, believes that undrafted free agent Case Keenum is our best option to accomplish that goal. If we don’t win, it tells us that we have a serious quarterback issue that we should probably address in the draft. If Case does well and we do win, we might just be looking at the future face of the franchise.